Weinstein denies blacklisting actresses Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino

Since Jackson's interview was published, both Judd and Sorvino have taken to social media to share their thoughts on his allegations.

In a new statement released by a spokesperson on Weinstein's behalf, the former Miramax honcho says he not only didn't blacklist Sorvino but "was in fact working with her during the timeframe in question on Mimic, the Guillermo Del Toro film". The latter explained that she cried because she realised that the producer "derailed my career".

Sorvino also retweeted it, adding: "Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying". "While Ashley was the top choice for Miramax and Mr. Weinstein, the role went to Minnie Driver, who was the star and director's preference", the statement says.

If Ashley Judd said she was in conversations with Mr. Jackson and reviewed sketches, it was under New Line, which had casting authority, not Miramax.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was initially in development with Weinstein's Miramax company, before being passed to New Line Cinema. I guess we all know what type of person now.

Judd retweeted Stuff's original story Thursday night, saying: "I remember this well". After this meeting we were told by Miramax to steer clear of both Ashley and Mira, because they claimed to have had "bad experiences" with these particular actresses in the past. This was probably in 1998. "There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure".

Sorvino and Judd are among a large number of women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment since the New York Times broke the story of his decades-long campaign of abuse. I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women - and as direct result, their names were removed from our casting list.

"Movie making is much more fun when you work with nice people", Jackson said.

Weinstein cast Judd in two subsequent films - "Frida" (2002) and "Crossing Over" (2009) - and Sorvino was also considered for other films, the spokesman added. "Nearly 20 years later, we read about the sexual misconduct allegations being made against Harvey Weinstein and we saw comments by both Mira and Ashley, who felt they had been blacklisted by Miramax after rejecting Harvey's sexual advances".

"As recently as this year, Mira Sorvino called Mr. Weinstein and asked if her husband could be part of the SEAL television series he was producing and Mr. Weinstein cast him".